Snowy Endings
by DauntlessFlame
Summary: "Liar! Traitor! Thief! Because of you he's dead! He didn't get the catmint he needed because you took it!" Greencough has struck the crumbling home of DustClan. Sanity, innocence, and faith are pushed to the limits as Lilypetal tries to do what's right. It seems she's treading on thin ice... One-shot. *ImagineClan's "Shadows in Sunlight" challenge.


_Cold . . . _It was so cold. The cold was nothing new, though. It had been cold for many nights now. The vibrant sun was blazing down like a fire that didn't give off heat. It was as if there were a thick sheet of ice between the sky and sun, blocking out all heat. A thick blanket of snow covered even her fur, as the warriors' den was in much need of repair. But Swiftstar was more concerned of prey, rather than her Clanmates' warmth. How nice she was, rarely leading a hunting party herself! Lilypetal curled her lip in disgust, shaking the snow off her pelt.

Her steps in the cold white left an easy trail for anyone to follow, but who would want to follow the cat who didn't speak? They often jested about her being mute, but she never let it get to her. She guarded her reputation so fiercely; she didn't want others know what was going on in her head. Besides, it was easier being alone. When she was alone in the forest with all its secrets, she felt much freer than she did in the crumbling barriers of camp. Everything needed to be fixed: the warriors' den, the bramble barrier, the nursery, and even Swiftstar's den needed a hole patched. But she'd often heard the lectures from senior warriors that how scarce prey was and how it must be collected whenever possible so _no one _goes hungry. Though they don't speak to her, she could still feel the way even they whisper about the extra weight Swiftstar has been putting on. Swiftstar was the main reason Lilypetal and many others were worn down when the time came to fight. The next time LeafClan attacked, DustClan would be so tired and useless it would be no surprise if they overtook their territory. As the days dwindled down, Lilypetal had trouble seeing what was worth fighting for anymore.

Lilypetal sighed, parting her jaws. She scented that there was a rabbit nearby. That was a good sign, in the least. She hadn't seen a rabbit in _ages._ Wait, well she _had_, but the scraggly thing Volepaw had brought back proudly. That'd hardly been enough for a kit to eat alone! Inside the rabbit was worse: maggots. Sweetbreeze saw that as an ill omen representing Whitehare's death. But Whitehare was still alive, still mothering a son. She was one of Lilypetal's rare friends, one who didn't care about the gossip or why she spoke little. Whitehare was a good friend. She was always open to the strange ideas Lilypetal would come up with and ready to stand up against those who jested about Lilypetal. Lilypetal was very grateful for such a friend.

She pressed low to the snow in the forest of cold, letting her white fur be her disguise. Like the rabbits in this time of the season, her pelt was as white as snow. If Whitehare were to be out here too, she'd blend in easily. Lilypetal prowled forward with careful steps, the fur on her belly brushing the cold white. She stepped in short jots, as quiet as a mouse and quick as a fish. She stood eerily still as she spotted the rabbit. Stark white and rather large, Lilypetal knew this would be an easy kill. The thin, lean hares escaped too easily. Lilypetal felt her muscles prick with excitement. At last! Something for Swiftstar to be proud of!

Lilypetal darted forward, cursing StarClan as the rabbit sprang into action. She gave pursuit, not ready to give up such fine prey so easily. Letting out a fearsome hiss, she leaped, pushing the hare into the snow. With a quick killing bite, she satisfyingly brought an end to the rabbit's life. The rabbit's blood was warm in her mouth, but soon the creature turned snow-cold with death just as the flakes of white began to trickle from the pale sky.

~.~

When she returned to camp with the fat rabbit in her jaws, Lilypetal was cast peculiar glances. Well, some of them weren't glances. She was bluntly stared at, in some cases. Lilypetal could picture what they were thinking: _So the mute one actually _can_ catch fresh-kill! She must have had someone else catch it for her so she could get the credit. _Oh, how she'd like to wipe those thoughts out of their minds. She'd earned her warrior name, hadn't she? She'd proven her right to be treated with respect. Quietness was just her nature. But it seemed to others that she was hiding something behind all those unspoken words. _What did it matter anyway_? They wouldn't ever know what was going through her head.

Lilypetal pulled the rabbit along, careful not to let it drag. The dead weight was heavy, but she paid no mind to the aching in her jaw. Anything was well worth her Clanmates' approval. She set it down gently to catch her breath, praying no one would notice her pause.

"Did you pull that from the Thunderpath?" asked Volepaw, jealousy vibrant in his yellow gaze and jagged tone. "Even _you_ couldn't have caught that!" He glared at Lilypetal, clearly remembering the maggot-rabbit as well.

"Only if you're calling me a monster," Lilypetal replied icily, letting her tone inflict the kind of coldness she felt. She wanted him to hear it, to feel it: that dreaded _cold_ that was buried in the marrow of her bones. She padded away from him dutifully, lifting the rabbit off the ground despite how heavy it was so it wouldn't drag. As she heaved it on the fresh-kill pile, she felt many stares eyeing up the rabbit she'd just placed. Pride struck her like a mother for her kits. She was the first one to actually bring back some edible prey. While others dragged back frozen birds and mice, _she_ brought home a rabbit — and a fat one at that! She watched for the first cat to make their claim.

Whitehare ducked out of the slowly crumbling nursery, her nose sniffing the air. She glanced at Lilypetal, her bright green eyes shining with excitement. "Onekit is ready to try his first prey!" she purred. When she caught sight of the rabbit, Lilypetal glowed all the more. "Did you catch that, Lilypetal? You're looking as if I'm the lucky tom who told you 'Yes, Lilypetal, I love you'." The white queen padded over to the fresh-kill pile, pulling the rabbit off with ease. "I think I'll take this. The mothers will be very grateful, Lilypetal. Thanks!" Without another word, Whitehare dragged the rabbit into the nursery.

~.~

It was hardly a moon later when greencough struck. More than half the warriors and apprentices were stuffed in the medicine den. Three elders had already died thanks to Swiftstar announcing that they shouldn't waste catmint on cats who couldn't even help the Clan. It seemed that DustClan was losing their minds before LeafClan had the mind to take over this territory. _It won't be long . . . _Lilypetal was ever reassured of this as another cat entered Sweetbreeze's den. Swiftstar had finally been forced to lead patrols a lot more lately. She and the deputy made a daily route to around the borders, though never bothered to catch prey. No, that job was left to the few warriors with enough strength to hunt.

Lilypetal hadn't been hit with greencough, but she could feel her body already weakening. Sometimes she coughed, just as everyone did these days. Lilypetal had stopped sleeping in the warriors' den at this point. She'd found a nice spot under a tree with gnarled roots. It was hollow underneath, the perfect place away from camp. No one had said anything about her absences at night and no one really slept in the warriors' den anyway. Many were awake all night coughing or hunting. Swiftstar's grip on things certainly wasn't strong. DustClan was falling apart — in more ways than one.

What put the rain in Lilypetal's day was that Onekit was overtaken with the sickness. Whitehare worried dearly for him. Whitehare refused to leave the medicine den, despite the fact she could get sick.

This was what drove Lilypetal to go on her hunt for catmint. The wind was bitterly cold and the snow wasn't better, either. Today the sun was hidden behind the thickset gray clouds, with not a care in the world for the frigid weather below. StarClan must be upset, for one reason or another, so Lilypetal was all the more determined to set things right. If StarClan was on her side, she'd find at least enough for little Onekit. He was so small, so weak! He wouldn't last long against the sickness and Sweetbreeze's supply was already lower than the stream on a warm green-leaf day.

Lilypetal scarcely knew where she was going in the white blur she called home. She wandered the snow-covered forest, scenting for the delicious-smelling plants. Lilypetal didn't even know the first place to look! After all, Sweetbreeze _never_ told another cat where to find herbs. She hadn't even taken on an apprentice. Lilypetal sighed, pressing on through the blaring cold. It seemed like days had passed before she finally found stalks. It was bittersweet to be the one who found them and her heart swelled. Onekit might live! She plucked the few stalks, as careful as if she were treading on thin ice.

~.~

By the time Lilypetal returned, the sun was shining. As she carried the stalks into Sweetbreeze's den, her heart was pounding. Whitehare would be so happy! Even Swiftstar couldn't find fault in this. Lilypetal's Clanmates might show her more respect now, now that she'd saved Onekit's precious life. But when she entered the den there was such a grief in the air that she nearly dropped the stalks. Sneaking into Sweetbreeze's storage unseen, she gently laid them on the ivy leaf. Whitehare would be grateful indeed, but Lilypetal wondered who died. The elders had all fled DustClan as soon as three of them were plucked off by the sickness. Lilypetal hoped they would survive this harsh leaf-bare, even though Swiftstar said 'Good riddance'.

The eerie quiet pricked at her ears, but she pushed horrid thoughts away. Her heart swelled as she left the storage. Things were going to be okay. Whitehare would be proud. Lilypetal puffed her chest in pride. Because of her Onekit would live!

"Because of you Onekit is dead!"

The wretched words sliced through the air before Lilypetal could register what was happening. She snapped her head up, watching Sweetbreeze bristle with fury. Never before had the medicine cat screeched so loudly. Sweetbreeze's eyes were sagging, lacking from sleep. Wasn't she seeing clearly? Lilypetal had just helped her. She should be grateful.

"I was just collecting some catmint for you," Lilypetal murmured softly, gesturing to the fresh stalks. Sweetbreeze only glared with her eyes so cold Lilypetal felt like a shrew. Fear rose in her throat like bile. Sweetbreeze wasn't buying her story. Frantic for words, she went on: "All I wanted to do was help. I traveled through snow and all, just to gather you a few stalks."

"Liar! Traitor! Thief!" Sweetbreeze's eyes blazed. "You stole catmint!" she yowled. "Because of you Onekit is dead! He didn't get the catmint he needed because you took it!"

There was a moment of pure, breathtaking silence. Lilypetal dared not breathe a word, for fear of her own Clanmates rattled like a snake's tail within her. She felt like she was being choked — and on nothing but Sweetbreeze's alarming words: _Onekit is dead! _

Whitehare was the next Clanmate Lilypetal saw, but who she saw wasn't her friend. This was a queen who blamed her kit's death on Lilypetal. "You should go to StarClan to give him your apology!" Whitehare hissed. "You should let him hear your excuses of why you let him die! You should suffer the same death he did!"

"Nonsense!" Sweetbreeze growled, turning to Whitehare, her voice slick with menace. "We can't kill, it's against the code! She will be _banished!_ Banished, I say! That way she can starve outside our borders, without our protection!"

_Banished_, the word was foreign to her ears. Lilypetal was in a daze. She couldn't hear anymore, couldn't feel. She was being pushed and shoved out of the medicine den, finally below where Swiftstar sat on her perch atop Dusty Mount. Swiftstar spoke, but Lilypetal only heard echoes of that one word: _banished. _

~.~

_Lilypetal ran, faster than she'd ever run in her life. Her breathing came quick, the warmness melting the few specks of snow that it touches. The sun is shining now, much brighter and more vibrantly. The ice barrier is still there, reflecting the heat and leaving everyone else with the cold. _

Cold . . . _It is so cold. The cold was nothing new, though; this includes the cold-hearted, too. Lilypetal knows Sweetbreeze meant no ill, but Onekit is still dead. The death isn't Lilypetal's fault — why couldn't they see that? Perhaps someone else knew that she was only trying to help, but they'd wanted her gone from the Clan, just as Sweetbreeze had said: _banished.

_Even in the stark sunlight, Lilypetal became aware of a shadow around her, an unwelcome cloak of darkness. She raises her muzzle and lets out a long, mourning wail. If only Whitehare could hear her cries, could see what greatness Lilypetal had intended . . . _

Banished . . . _That ill word is in the air, a chant that repeats itself forever. Lilypetal keeps running, across the Thunderpath, straight into the foreign land of LeafClan. She has no home now, no belonging. But she has to try. The blistering cold won't stop her this time. _

"_Banished," Lilypetal whispers, letting the wind take her words away. She could feel this new snow-covered forest calling her name. The breeze would take away her pain, her sorrows, and her loss, too. LeafClan wouldn't turn down a warrior. _

_Lilypetal came to a halt, watching with great wonder as her new leader appears from the snowy undergrowth. He steps forward, cautiously, not sure what to make of her. "Do you dare trespass?" he calls. _

"_This is my home."_

~EPILOGUE~

Two moons later, LeafClan took to overpowering DustClan. DustClan was now as gone as the dust it was named for. Swiftstar ran off as soon as her kits were born, disappearing so suddenly no one was prepared. Swiftstar had been guarded, but even her guard couldn't explain what happened that night. Either way, there were two newborn kits that were going to make fine warriors for LeafClan.

Lilypetal was a trusted warrior of LeafClan now. She still refused to talk to her former Clanmates who now resided in the LeafClan camp. All those of DustClan were slowly becoming members of LeafClan, almost re-earning their warrior names. Goldenstar was a fair leader, with much more sanity than Swiftstar ever had. Lilypetal was more at home in this Clan.

One weary white day, when the sun was shining, Lilypetal felt her shadows lift. A gust of wind blew, carrying soft little words that belonged to the voice of a very special cat:

"_I don't blame you for my death. Thank you for helping DustClan become alive again. I hope you can one day forgive my mother."_

The voice belonged to Onekit.


End file.
